Cody Gakpo's decision to join Liverpool without a guarantee of Champions League qualification delighted Jurgen Klopp, who has "no doubts at all" about the forward ahead of his Reds debut.
Liverpool beat several clubs – including rivals Manchester United – to Gakpo's signature by agreeing a deal worth an initial £37million (€42m) with PSV shortly before the transfer window opened.
Gakpo was unable to make his debut in Monday's 3-1 Premier League defeat at Brentford after a delay in ratifying the move, but he is available for Saturday's FA Cup tie against Wolves.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of that fixture, Klopp said Gakpo's decision to join a team seven points adrift of a top-four place said a lot about his personality.
"We had information about him as a person from Virgil [van Dijk] so not only were there few doubts, there were no doubts at all," Klopp said. "We're very happy with the signing.
"There were easier moments to join Liverpool. Last year, we were not qualified already for the Champions League, but it looked likely. This year we can't guarantee that, but Cody never asked.
"What I like about this is he's not a guy that wants to jump on a moving train, he's a guy that wants to push the train. So good for him, as well. It always helps in life if you are like that."
Gakpo scored three goals as the Netherlands reached the World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar after providing 12 goals and nine assists for PSV through their first 14 games of the Eredivisie season.
While Klopp is excited to see the 23-year-old in action, he is unwilling to compare him to Luis Diaz, who made a terrific impact for Liverpool after his own mid-season arrival from Porto 12 months ago.
"With our situation, with injuries to the strikers, it's nice to have a player who is natural in lots of things and knows where the goal is," Klopp said of Gakpo.
"He looks really good, he looks really promising. He looks fit. Is he 100 per cent fit? I don't know, he had a few times with us where he couldn't train with the team. Now he's with the team. The sessions have been intense for him because it's different.
"I'm very positive about him. I don't know if it's helpful to compare him with Lucho's impact – it was pretty special. We had injuries [last season] and it was extremely helpful.
"Cody gets the same amount of time as any other player. He has to settle in offensively, he comes from a different league. I don't have to compare him to Lucho, but we expect a positive impact, definitely."
Klopp also dismissed suggestions he had been irked by Liverpool's failure to have Gakpo available sooner, adding: "If our Premier League game [at Brentford] had been last night, maybe he could have played, but for us in this moment, it's absolutely perfect.
"Normally in January business happens later, but in this case we were pretty early, so I'm completely fine with the situation."
Wolves have work to do as promising season fizzles out, says O'Neil
Wolves boss Gary O'Neil says there is a "lot of work to be done" at Molineux ahead of next season, after their downturn continued with a 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Michael Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberechi Eze were on target as Wolves were beaten in their final home game of the campaign, with the in-form Eagles making it five wins in six matches.
Wolves have won just one of their last 10 games in all competitions (two draws, seven defeats), a run which began with a dramatic FA Cup quarter-final collapse against Coventry City in March.
After beating Fulham 2-1 on March 9, O'Neil's team sat eighth in the Premier League table, just one point adrift of the top seven.
However, injuries to key attackers Pedro Neto, Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha stunted their momentum and a once-promising campaign will now fizzle out to a bottom-half finish.
O'Neil has previously said Wolves will not be able to spend big in the transfer market ahead of 2024-25, but he knows they need to strengthen.
"There's lots that we have to improve," he said. "In the first two thirds of the season we looked like a team chasing Europe, and in the last third of the season you could see the issues that we've had and those have come to light.
"As a football club, we need to have a real good look at the last few weeks.
"People are starting to come back, and we still haven't managed to regain that impetus and momentum that we had before.
"There's a lot of work to be done between now and the start of next season, and a tough away game next week at Anfield."
Wolves go to Liverpool for their last game of the season next week, as the Reds' final opponents under departing boss Jurgen Klopp.
Palace star Olise would have hit 20 goals without injuries, says Andersen
Michael Olise would have scored at least 20 Premier League goals if he had stayed fit throughout the entire season, believes his Crystal Palace captain Joachim Andersen.
Olise continued his excellent form as Palace stretched their unbeaten run to six games with a deserved 3-1 win at Wolves on Saturday, opening the scoring with a curling finish and later adding an assist for Eberechi Eze.
The creative midfielder – who has been linked with Manchester United and Chelsea in recent weeks – has been involved in 15 goals in just 18 league appearances this campaign (10 goals, five assists).
That is his best return in a single Premier League season, bettering the 13 goal contributions he managed in 37 outings in 2022-23 (two goals, 11 assists).
Speaking to Palace's website, centre-back Andersen said: "Imagine if he played all 37 games!
"He would have scored 20 or 25 goals if he was playing like this. He's a crazy player and we're lucky to have him, and hopefully he will score again next weekend."
Palace have won seven (38.9 per cent) of the 18 Premier League games in which Olise has featured this term, compared to five of 19 without him (26.3 per cent).They have also averaged one goal more per game when Olise has been involved (1.9) than they have without him (0.9).
While Olise's return from a hamstring injury has been a major boost for the Eagles, the appointment of Oliver Glasner has also had a transformative impact.
Since he took charge of his first Premier League game in February, only Manchester City (nine wins, 29 points) and Arsenal (nine wins, 28 points) have bettered Palace's six victories and 21 points.
Asked what has changed under Glasner, Andersen said: "Everyone is happy and everyone understands what we need to do on the pitch, everyone knows their role.
"I think you could see it from the first games, even though we didn't get the results straight away. I think we were a little bit unlucky with some of the results.
"It's just fantastic to see how everyone is understanding his messages and getting on board with what he wants."
Al Hilal crowned Saudi Pro League champions after Al Hazm hammering
Al Hilal secured their fourth straight Saudi Pro League title after Aleksandar Mitrovic starred in Saturday's 4-1 thrashing of bottom side Al Hazm.
Faiz Selemani restored parity after Mitrovic's 15th-minute opener at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, only for Jorge Jesus' hosts to roar back and be crowned champions with three games remaining.
Ahmed Al Juwaid's own goal handed the initiative back to the dominant Al Hilal, who led 4-1 at the break after Mitrovic added another to his tally and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was on target.
The second of Mitrovic's strikes took him to a team-leading 26 league goals this term as Al Hilal breezed to another title, moving an unassailable 12 points clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr.
Jesus' side are unbeaten through all 31 games this season after securing their record-extending 19th top-flight crown in history, while Al Hazm need to win their last three matches to have any chance of staying up.
Al Hazm's relegation rivals Al Tai boosted their chances of survival in Saturday's earlier clash after a 1-1 draw away against Al Raed.
Al Tai are just a point away from 15th-placed Abha Club in their bid for top-flight safety after Ibrahim Al Nakhli's strike was cancelled out by Al Raed's Mohammed Fouzair in the second half.
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